Best Original Screenplay

The Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay is the Academy Award for the best script not based upon previously published material. It was created in 1940 as a separate writing award from the Academy Award for Best Story. Beginning with the Oscars for 1957, the two categories were combined to honor only the screenplay. In 2002, the name of the award was changed from "Writing (Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen)" to "Writing (Original Screenplay)"

History

Woody Allen has the most nominations in this category with 15, and the most awards with 3. He also holds the record as the oldest winner (at age 76 for 2011's Midnight in Paris). Ben Affleck is the youngest winner, at the age of 25 for Good Will Hunting; he co-wrote the screenplay with Matt Damon (age 27 at the time of their award). Muriel Box was the first woman to win in this category; she shared the award with her husband, Sydney Box. The Boxes are also the first married couple to win in this category. In 1996, Joel Coen and Ethan Coen became the only siblings to win in this category. Francis Ford Coppola (1970) and Sofia Coppola (2003) are the only father-daughter pair to win, though they did not win for a collaborative work.

The official name of the award has changed several times over the years: